Aftermath
by amintinat
Summary: In which Steve Rogers finds a new home. Part of "A New Life", a Superfamily series.


Some quick notes:

This is the first drabble in my Superfamily series called "New World" where Aunt May dies alongside Uncle Ben.

The series will be... stupidly long, apparently. I've already got about 7 more drabbles that I want to write which will all be prequels to three large stories.

I will also be posting all of this to tumblr, just in case any of you would prefer to read it there, and you can access that through my profile page on ff.

That's about it so I hope you enjoy!

* * *

After Thor had taken Loki to face justice on Asgard, the rest of the Avengers had separated.

Bruce had gone with Tony to stay in the remains of Stark tower and help with its redevelopment, while Clint and Natasha had gone travelling to "relive some memories". Steve quickly decided he had been stuck in that SHIELD base for far too long and was determined to find an apartment in New York.

With the motorbike that Tony had given him (an apology for his attitude and words on the Helicarrier, Steve thought, though Steve had stuck with a simple "I'm sorry") and a reasonably sized account set up for him by SHIELD, he began his search with a short tour of New York to find an area that would suit him best. The answer was, unfortunately, nowhere. While he wanted to be reminded of his friends and family, he felt that Brooklyn was off-limits as he doubted he'd be able to cope with his past being shoved in his face every second of the day, and every inch of this place seemed to be painfully expensive. In spite of it all, he eventually found a small apartment in the Bronx.

In all honesty, the place was awful. There was a tiny bedroom, with a smaller shower-room attached, and a kitchenette with a small table where he could eat meals. The walls and ceiling were covered in mould and the flooring was simple, old, cracked linoleum throughout.

A few days after he moved in, Bruce came for a visit and two days after that Tony turned up to force him into Stark Tower ("I don't care how broken it is. I'm rich, it's huge and this place is shit. Now grab you stuff and lets go."). Steve hadn't put up much of an argument, eyes drifting over to the small hole at the bottom of the wall opposite his bed where a rat had set up camp.

Living alone with Tony and Bruce had been odd. Bruce was, of course, very kind. He made time to talk to Steve and gave a lot of advice on the changes that the 21st century had brought and how he might best navigate them. He also taught Steve how to use the microwave and coffee machine (Tony had refused as soon as he'd seen Steve's face).

Tony, on the other hand, had been... Well. He hadn't been unpleasant, which was nice. He'd just been... himself. Loud and eccentric, occasionally disappearing into the lab for more time than Steve felt was healthy. He had been friendly, though. He had no problem with Steve coming to him for company and they ended up getting along quite well, especially when Steve had learned how to cope with Tony's sense of humour.

Pepper was kind and had been very helpful when he moved in, though she was not often around. Her confidence made her beautiful, and her tenacity resembled Peggy's enough to make him feel a sharp nostalgia, though not in a particularly unhappy way. After a couple of weeks Pepper explained to him (because obviously Tony would not) that she and Tony were no longer seeing each other and had decided remaining friends would be for the best. While they were obviously very close and had strong love for each other, the nature of their lives kept them separate and neither wanted the other to be stuck in a relationship steeped in loneliness. Though Steve felt a bit queasy about the situation, it very quickly became obvious that their genuine appreciation for each other did not diminish and they both seemed just fine with this change in their status.

Steve managed to have a short conversation with Tony about this in the lab the next day (he'd wanted to make sure that Tony was not too upset. Bucky would get mopey when a girl he liked broke it off with him and he wasn't too sure how Tony coped with this sort of thing).

"She says that you two broke it off for your, um... 'mutual benefit?'"

"Yeah." Tony didn't look up from the digital floor plans he had spread out in front of him.

"Okay... So, uh, did you love her?"

"Still do."

"But you aren't seeing her anymore?"

"No, Cap."

"Doesn't that make you sad?"

Tony swiped the area in front of him to clear the data and moved to sit on a stool across the table from Steve. "Not really. I loved her before we started dating, I loved her while we were dating and I'll love her now we're not. Difference will be we aren't having sex anymore, that's all."

Steve felt his face burn. He didn't think he'd ever get used to the way sex was talked about these days. And he was sure from the look in his eyes that Tony had done this on purpose. "Oh. Ok. It's just... She's a beautiful, um, lady. And I don't really understand why-. Hm. No, it's none of my business. Sorry."

By now, Tony's smile was wide and wicked as it often was when he teased Steve like this. "S'fine, Rogers. We just decided we'd be better as friends. There's nothing more to it."

"Right," Steve nodded and felt his own smile tug on his face. "So, you sweet on anyone else?"

Tony coughed out a laugh. "Am I _sweet on anyone_? Christ, did people actually say that or is this just a 'you' thing? I have a feeling that a lot of the shit you say is just you."

Steve felt a familiar tingle of frustration under his skin. "It's not just me! That's what we said! It's what _I_ say. There's nothing wrong with the way I talk!"

Tony laughed more. "Oh God, I need a drink. Let's go get pizza and a beer, yeah? I'm buying." As if he hadn't been paying for everything since Steve arrived.

Three weeks later and Natasha and Clint came back. They didn't bother looking for another place to stay, just turned up at the door one day and asked where their rooms were. Tony showed them.

Steve really liked both the assassins. They were a good people and highly skilled at what they did. Before the showdown in New York, Steve had confined himself to the SHIELD base and with Natasha and Clint away on missions more often than not, their previous interactions had been limited. When they had arrived at the Tower, Steve was quick to invite them to a game of cards (he knew from his experience in the army that this, along with alcohol, was a quick and easy way to bond with a team). They had used some sort of high quality vodka, picked up from Russia, and Clint was almost unconscious within the first half hour, though Natasha acted as though she barely felt it at all. They carried on for a while longer with Clint sleeping on the sofa before Natasha decided to put Clint to bed. (Steve had a niggling suspicion about those two he intended to pass by Tony later.)

By this time, the renovations in the newly named "Avengers Tower" were nearly complete. It was only the R&D floors that were left and the equipment that Tony and Bruce wanted was set to arrive over the coming weeks.

Thor was the last to arrive. Three months after the showdown and the news reported a freak storm developing fast, directly above New York. The others had spread through the city to find him, just in case he got into any trouble, and he was relaxing in the Tower not an hour later. Thor explained them that Loki was safe and imprisoned, awaiting justice in Asgard while he had been sent by his father to Midgard to "improve the relations between the two realms after the destruction that Loki has wrought". Thor stayed with them for a couple of nights while JARVIS tracked Jane down and he spent much of this time attempting (and failing) to get Steve drunk.

Thor was away for a short two weeks before he returned, Jane in tow. She agreed that, for the moment, her research could be conducted in the city and she had soon found an apartment to share with Darcy, allowing the God to move back with his friends.

Three days later, Peter Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider.


End file.
